WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) announced $120 million for Fiscal Year 2025 for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project using funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Reclamation Water Settlements Fund.
The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project was first authorized in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which settled the Navajo Nation’s water rights in the San Juan River Basin of New Mexico. Upon completion, this project will provide a sustainable water supply from the San Juan River to roughly 43 Chapters of the Navajo Nation, the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the City of Gallup, all of which currently rely on a rapidly diminishing groundwater supply.
In August, the N.M. Delegation was pleased to welcome a $267 million Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project contract to design and build the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant in northwest New Mexico. The plant is the largest and most important feature of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. Together with today’s announcement, the total investment for the project is $487 million.
“Today, we are delivering on our promise to the Navajo Nation to fund this infrastructure project that will deliver clean, reliable water to 43 Tribal communities and the City of Gallup. We secured significant investments for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project through our Infrastructure Law. Now it’s time we get the project fully completed,” said Ranking Member Heinrich. “Communities in northwest New Mexico, the Navajo Nation, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation deserve water security and clean drinking water. I am committed to delivering the resources families need and deserve.”
"Access to safe, reliable drinking water is a basic right and crucial for public health. That’s why I’m proud to have helped secure $120 million for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. I’m grateful to Secretary Haaland and the Department of the Interior for their support,” said Luján, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “This issue has been a priority for me since I introduced the original Navajo-Gallup Water Supply legislation in the House of Representatives. I also introduced legislation to amend the project, ensuring it has the resources and time needed to deliver clean drinking water to communities in northwestern New Mexico. I previously secured $137 million for the project through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and I'll continue working to complete this project. This is an issue of living up to our trust responsibility to Tribes and delivering essential rights to Nations. This is a critical step forward and I remain committed to fighting for Tribes and Pueblos.”
“We worked hard to raise the funding ceiling for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project in the contentious end of year funding fight because we knew this $120 million would get us a step closer to delivering clean, reliable water to communities on the Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation, and across northwestern New Mexico,” said Leger Fernández. “This long-term project will bring drinking water to 250,000 people and the completion of this water project is essential for upholding our federal trust responsibility to Tribal nations. This project also benefits the surrounding communities of Gallup and allows hospitals and key improvements to be built. I will keep fighting to provide the infrastructure to sustain New Mexican communities for generations to come.”
“I want to thank Senator Heinrich, Senator Luján, and Rep. Leger Fernández for their tireless advocacy on behalf of the Navajo Nation and for securing the language in the Continuing Resolution to allow this funding to become possible. With this funding, we are even closer to bringing a safe and reliable water supply to our people. We are confident that with their advocacy that Congress will pass the entirety of the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said.
“For many years, the City of Gallup has relied on dwindling groundwater resources that are increasingly expensive and difficult to develop,” said Mayor Louie Bonaguidi. “Water from the San Juan River constitutes the only available and economically viable long term supply, and is therefore essential to – and guarantees – the City’s future. In economic terms, the project is a ‘game changer’ for the City. We are very happy that Congresswomen Leger-Fernández and Stansbury, Senators Luján and Heinrich, and other members of the State’s delegation, working with the Bureau of Reclamation, have been able to secure additional funding for the project.”
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